Glass building block



Sept, 14, 19485. N. c. DRYDEN GLASS BUILDING BLOCK Filed April 2,5, 1946 TiH-ll R O T l N E V m NATANIEL cavocn Y A QW, 6x ATToRNl-:Ya

Patented sepa 14,1948 i vUNITED i 2,449,458 GLASS BUnmING BLocK Nathaniel C. Dryden, Poughkeepsie, N. Y.

Application April 26, 1946, Serial N0. 865,150

This invention has to do with a glass building block. It combines the qualities o! structural strength,durabllity, insulation against transfer of heat' and sound, avoidance of condensation, relatively low density, surface protection y and decorativeness. In consequence, the block provides a complete cross sectionof wall which, after installation, needs no outside surface treatment.

for either decoration or protection; and4 it may be so made as to need no inside, surface treatment after installation.

Blocks ofrec'tangular shape made according to this invention are easily and quickly set in place, and when suitably bonded at the Joints make up the main part of the wa-lls. Similarly made blocks of appropriate shapes. similarly set in place, provide the corners, the frames for doors and windows and the junction with roof members. The same basic idea of block construction admits of use for all of these shapes. Y A building made of these blocks can be constructed in a short time since the individual blocks canbe moved and put in place by hand, and yet are of relatively large size, and many of the conventional operations requiring separate skills and individual timeconsuming work are eliminated.

2 Claims. (Cl. 'l2-36) its upper face. The rib rests in the groove in the block beneath it and thu's the blocks are located properly in relation to each other to form a plumb wall. l

The veneer I3, which forms a part of the outside wall of the building, can be molded to resemble another kind of buil-ding, for example, the surface of a, brick or stone building or a shingled or clapboard surface, and the glass can be colored accordingly. The simulation of brickwork is shown in the drawings. In like man.ner, that part of the outer veneer of a block which is to form a part of the border of a window or door may be shaped and colored to simulate conventional or other architectural treatment. The

inside veneer I4 can be given any color and'surface effect, smooth or roughened, that is con- In the annexed sheet of drawings which illusv trate the invention,

Figure i is a perspective view of the block of rectangular shape used for walls;

Figure 2 is a vertical section through the block;

Figure 3 shows, in plan, a corner block: Figure 4 is a plan view showing a-window or door frame in relation to the blocks bordering in atthe sides:

Figure 5 is an elevation showing the or window frame.

The block is an integral u nit having component bodies of glass of different sorts fused or otherwise bonded together. These component bodies are arranged like layers on edge, each. extendingV from end to end and from top to bottom oi the block. At the center is a body III of solid glass. On each side of it is a body Il, I2 of cellular glass, sometimes known as foam glass. At the outside of the block is a thinner body or veneer of solid glass, Il. covering the foam glass and forming a decorative surface. Preferably, but not necessarily, there is a veneer Il of solid glass at the inside also.

Each block has a V-shaped rib I8 running lengthwise on its under face, preferably in the center part i0, and a corresponding groove Il in shape of the blocks and their assembly at the top of a door sidered appropriate for the wall of a room. Certain blocks used in a building may have the inner veneer in the form of a glass mirror. No plaster. paint or paper is necessary when an inside veneerA is included. If the inside veneer Il is omitted, the surface presented by the foam glass component II may be covered or 'not as desired.

The dimensions and relative thickness of the component bodies are matters of design for the particular use. In general the veneer is less -thick than the inner components, I0, II, I2, and the outside veneer I3 is thicker than the inside veneer I4. Likewise, the composition of the glass for the different component bodies is open to variation and adaptation to particular needs. The different component bodies of glass may contain non-glass material, and reference to the block as being of glass is not intended to exclude.

the use of other compatible components for special purposes, the basic characteristics being l still those imparted by the fact of using glass.

For the 4 corners of the building, there is a similarly made L-shaped block in which all of the strata turn the corner as shown in Figure 3. The blocks 20, 2| bordering the side of a door or -.window have a recess 22 at one end extending from topto bottom and located preferably in the central body of solid glass. The blocks 22, 2l bordering the top of a door, or the top or bottom of a window, have a similar recess 25 (see Fig. 2) in their border surface, which is the top or bottom surface of the block as the case may be, but these recesses 2B do not extend the full length of the blocks in as much as these blocks 23, 24 extend back into the wall for support and only partly overlie (or underlie) the door or window opening. For example', the recess 25 in a top block need extend only far enough to overlie the recess 22 in the blocks bordering the opening at formed only in the particular blocks which are to v the sidei The door frame or window trame 2l be located where access is needed. The i'act that nts into lthe channel provided by these complethese blocks are cast from molten material giv` mentary recesses in adjoining blocks bordering a wide choice as to shape, interior cavities to sav p the opening. The frame is set in the channel as 5 weight. and surface connguration. which makes the side blocks are being put in place, and the it possible to adapt the blocks to building needs, 's top blocks are set in place after the frame is in both structural and decorative. place. Any suitable sealing agency may be used Having regard to the doctrine oi equivalents, between the frame' and the Wall of this channel. Y I particularly point out and distinctly claim in In the preferred Way of makina' this 81u85 10 the following the improvement and combination block, diil'erent masses of glass are brought towhich I claim as my invention and discovery: gether while stili sulciently molten to :use at the 1. A glass building lblock comprising a central interfaces and form a Strong bond. thus yielding body oi' solid glass extending to the ends and to the integral block. This may be done variously. the top and bottom of the' block, a. magg of foam For example, the block is made in a mold having 1s glass on each side of that body and a veneer of demountable walls and partitions which form solid giese covering the eide of one am ginge compartments corresponding to the tlve layercomponent and forming an outside wall surface. like bodies described above. The mold walls oorall of said components being united in an integral responding to the inside and outside face o! the whoie, 4block have whatever conformation is to be given 20 2, A glass building block according to claim 1 to those faces. as for example the simulation of and having e, veneer covering the side cf the an outside brick wall.' The diilerent masses of other foam glass compnnem and forming n in.

glass in molten condition. colored where desired, side wail surface are charged into the respective compartments, NATHANIEL C. DRYDEN, and when the glass is still molten enough to fuse at the interfaces the partitions are withdrawn. REFERENCES CITED when the Whole is sondmed' the Walls of the The following references are of record in the mold are removed. The aeration of the two foam glass masses H., I2 can be done in the mold. fue of this patent' Annealing or other operations are carried out as UNITED STATES PATENTS with any glass block. Number Name Date If desired, passageways can -be formed through 250,635 McLean Dec, 6, 1981 each block by placing suitable cores in the mold. 711,541 standenA oct. 2i, 1902 Being aligned when the blocks are assembled in 1,748,587 Smedley Feb. 25. 1930 a building these passageways serve, for example, 1,794,678 Eastman Mar. 3, 1931 as conduits for wiring or to contain.l pipes. In 2,067,313 Coryeli Jan. 12, 1987 v similar manner.y outlets from these"passageways 2,152,190 Henderson Mar. 28, 1939 can -be formed in the mold and if not used can be 2,205,534 Lytle June 25, 1940 blocked oil. In any program of standardized 2,268,251 Haux Dec. 30, 1941 budding umts, such access opening need be' 1" 2,310,432 Haux Feb. 9, 194s 

